Coconut Chicken Curry Soup- Courtesy of Eats and Beats

There is not one recipe of my bestie's that I've tried that hasn't been awesome. This was no exception. As I've said before, she is a food goddess, and IMHO, her taste in food is flawless. I meant to try this recipe that she recommended to me a long while back, but I waited until a few weeks ago to finally give it a shot. It was worth it. And, as you might have guessed from the number of recipes I post that include curry, I'm a big curry fan. I love coconut, too. A lot. 

For the original post, check my bestie's blog out here: http://www.jannapatterson.com/2012/02/coconut-chicken-curry-soup-and-my.html

 

Coconut Chicken Curry Soup- Courtesy of Eats and Beats (originally from Katie Goodman of GoodLife Eats)

 

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

1/2 of a medium yellow onion, sliced thin

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

14 ounces unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 jalapeño, seeded, minced

3 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 small red bell pepper, sliced thin

1/2 cup chopped green onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2 cups freshly cooked jasmine rice (*we used a brown jasmine)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the oil, season lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until cooked through and golden. Remove chicken and set aside. Sauté the onion, adding more oil if necessary, until tender.
Return the chicken to the pot with the onions. Add chicken broth, coconut milk, curry powder and jalapeno. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add bell pepper, green onion, and cilantro and simmer an additional 3 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon rice into 4 bowls and top with a ladle or two of soup. Garnish with additional cilantro and a sprinkling of shredded coconut. Serve.

Notes from Janna Patterson of Eats and Beats:

 The leftovers are very good, so I always double the recipe. Also, this is one of those recipes where you can cut back on the meat if you're trying to limit your consumption for environmental, financial, ethical, or any other reasons. When I double the recipe I still only use 3 chicken breasts and it's still incredibly delicious! (*I followed Janna's suggestion to double and do just 3 chicken breasts. Next time, I plan on doubling again but probably using 4 breasts, as I like the dish a bit meatier).

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas- Courtesy of Weelicious

There has been a lot on my plate of late (haha, I'm a poet and I didn't know it), and as it always seems with my life, when I pick up a new ball, I inevitably have to drop another. I appears that I'm not a great juggler (and, frankly, I don't care for juggling) so I make choices and set priorities, and in this case, it meant my cooking blog had to take a backseat for a bit.

While I've been preoccupied with other things, all have been good and positive, the most exciting of which is that I have decided to get certified as a personal trainer and am currently working toward that goal. I hope to be certified within the next few months, at which point, I plan on starting up a little business (including another blog, which I have already started working on) focusing on helping people work toward their health goals in a holistic way (including work on mental, physical, and spiritual dimensions of health).

My own journey has taught me so much, and while I certainly have far, far more to learn and lots of room to grow, I have found tremendous pride, joy and satisfaction in focusing on my well-being in a holistic, healthy, and balanced way (something I struggled with almost my entire life). With my social work/therapist background and my newly-gained knowledge and experience, I hope to be able to offer at least a little that is worthwhile to other people seeking to improve their overall well-being. For me, seeking health in a holistic way has involved a complete shift of paradigm, and as I've made that shift, it's been life-changing for the better, transforming my feelings about my body and myself in miraculous and wonderful ways. I can't wait to share my enthusiasm for and knowledge of the journey toward better health with others!

As I work on some of my personal goals, I still intend on posting recipes here, as I do still cook and eat :), though posts may be a little less frequent. I'm going to see how things go, and I'll adjust the frequency as needed. I hope you will bear with me as I figure things out!

In the meantime, I do have a couple new recipes worth posting, and tonight I had a few extra minutes to post. So, here I am!

Tonight's dinner recipe comes courtesy of Weelicious.com, as a number of my favorite recipes do. This was my first attempt at it, and while it took some time to make (a lot of the time was inactive cooking time), it was still super easy and it came out really, really well. I will ABSOLUTELY be putting this recipe into my regular rotation. It got the baby, preschooler, and husband stamps of approval, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, also. There are a few tweaks I'll make next time (I've noted them in the recipe), but it really doesn't require many changes.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas- Courtesy of Weelicious

Serves: 6

Cook time: 1 hr 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 cups mashed)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder (you could add a little extra)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (I plan on adding a little extra of this next time, too)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups shredded mexican blend cheese (I used the reduced fat kind)
12-ounces enchilada sauce (a little extra would be better, in my opinion)
6 large tortillas, or 12 small tortillas (I used 6 of Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran, and Whole Wheat tortillas)
***I would add shredded lettuce, sliced black olives, and a dollop of Greek yogurt (or sour cream, if you prefer) for a topping when serving

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. 
2. Poke the sweet potatoes all over with a fork and place on a foil lined baking sheet in the oven until fork tender, about 1 hour. Turn the oven down to 350F. 
3. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, then slice down the middle and scoop out all the pulp into a bowl. 
4. To the sweet potato pulp, add the garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, black beans, and 1 cup of cheese. Stir to thoroughly combine. 
5. Pour half of the enchilada sauce into a 9x11 baking dish. 
6. Place about 1/2 cup mixture into the middle of each tortilla and roll up. 
7. Place the enchiladas, seam side down, into the baking dish. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top. 
8. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. 
9. Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese and bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes until cheese is melted and browned slightly
Note: The sweet potatoes can be baked up to 2 days ahead of time and the pulp removed and stored in the fridge.

Original recipe here: http://weelicious.com/2014/06/08/sweet-potato-black-bean-enchiladas-recipe/